Texas LGBTQ+ advocates keep hope amid new restrictions on rights

June 29 (UPI) -- LGBTQ+ advocates in Texas are not ready to abandon hope after state lawmakers stepped up the volume of laws aiming to restrict their rights.

Ash Hall, a policy and advocacy strategist for ACLU Texas, said some may be tempted to move away from states like Texas, but they are not lost causes and progress can be made.

A record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills were filed in Texas' 88th Assembly, which ended May 29 -- 140. Hall said more than 130 were defeated, but the 10 passed was still a record. In an average year, about 24 or 25 of these types of bills are filed, but a sharp trend upward began in 2021.

"This year was just a veritable explosion," Hall told UPI. "I suppose the bright side is we also saw a record number of bills to help the LGBTQ community."

Passed were bans on gender-affirming care for minors, transgender girls in women's sports, minors attending drag shows and books in schools featuring LGBTQ+ characters and topics.

Combatting the record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills was a record number of people registering in opposition to them at the state Capitol in Austin. The fervor to stand against those laws has given advocates for the community hope that momentum is building for their cause.

Gender-affirming care

A March 27 House Public Health Committee hearing on Senate Bill 14 -- the gender-affirming care ban -- highlighted the divide on the topic.

Opponents of the ban say gender-affirming care improves the mental health of trans children and decreases suicidal ideation. Proponents say healthcare professionals are experimenting on children.

Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, argued there is no evidence that hormone therapies, puberty blockers or surgery help children overcome gender dysphoria or lower the risk of suicide. He claimed that the evidence cited that supports gender-affirming care is "low quality."

"Despite that, multiple American medical organizations have consistently advocated for these treatments as being standard of care," Oliverson said.

Quentin Van Meter, former president of the American College of Pediatricians, spoke in favor of the bill during the public comment portion of the meeting.

The American College of Pediatricians is a conservative advocacy group with less than 1,000 members. It is not affiliated with the American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization with about 67,000 member doctors. AAP recommends allowing access to comprehensive gender-affirming care.

Van Meter said gender transitioning is new, and claimed the Internet is responsible for an increase in people seeking gender-affirming care.

"It's more of a social contagion that's happened," he said.

Van Meter would go on to call the high rates of suicide and suicidal ideation among the transgender community, particularly transgender youth, a "myth."

Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, noted that Van Meter was rejected as an expert witness by the Texas court system in 2020 for not having expertise on gender-affirming care. He has also suggested that same-sex relationships are a danger to children and acknowledged that he is not an expert on adolescent health.

Van Meter spoke and answered questions for more than 20 minutes. During that time, he was not asked to cite reports, journals or authors that support the information he shared. However, Jessica Zwiener, a certified endocrinologist who opposed the measure, was asked by Oliverson to provide these details, which she did.

Zwiener specializes in hormone replacement therapy. She noted that some people do experience negative side effects from treatment, but they are minor and are outweighed by improvements in mental health.

She dismissed assertions that healthcare professionals push patients toward gender-affirming care, or that the decision to begin treatment is reached in a rash way. She approached the podium in opposition because many of her patients are concerned about what would happen if the law passed.

"I spend a lot of time listening to people trying to figure out if they need to try to leave the state or not," Zwiener said. "I'm really concerned with how I'm going to face these patients and tell them, 'We've seen how important and impactful this therapy has been for you, but now you can't have it anymore.'"

The bill passed the Senate and House and was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 2. It will go into effect on Sept. 1.

Several other Republican-led states, including Florida, Montana, Mississippi, Utah and Iowa, are among 20 that have passed similar laws. A judge struck down the Arkansas ban on June 20 and federal judges blocked bans in Kentucky and Tennessee on Thursday.

Opposition building

As the volume of laws targeting the LGBTQ+, and specifically the transgender community, continues to increase, Hall is seeing more support on the ground. During the legislative session, more people showed up to the Capitol to oppose bills like Senate Bill 14.

"Seeing the response to these attacks indicates to me that there is very much a light at the end of the tunnel," Hall said. "At some point from the backlash, the pendulum swings back toward progress. The time that pendulum swings back is coming a lot sooner than people expect."

To regain momentum, organizations like the ACLU, Equality Texas and Lambda Legal are challenging anti-LGBTQ+ narratives with education campaigns, as well as challenging laws in court.

In 2022, the ACLU of Texas and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over his directive to consider providing gender-affirming care a form of child abuse. The move also directed the Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents who support their children seeking such care.

A Texas district court temporarily stopped Abbott's directive, but it ultimately went back into effect.

Senate Bill 14 represented one of several high-profile policy losses for LGBTQ+ advocates, but there were also many wins. Hall said their organization charted a 95% win rate against "bad bills" and the number of people who registered against Senate Bill 14 was one of the highest in state history.

"Yes, there were a record number of bad bills filed, but there were also a record number of good bills," Hall said. "A record number of people showed up at the Capitol to register opposition to bad bills. The gender-affirming healthcare ban had one of the highest numbers of people in opposition in Texas history."

Some of the "good bills" include Senate Bill 12, which expands the duration of postpartum services covered by Medicaid.

"There are so many good people here in Texas and we are fighting back," Hall said. "This is not the time to give up on Texas or give up on the people of Texas. It is time to offer them your support."